Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, born in 1971 and 1976, were born in Quimper, France, and graduated from the Ecole Nationale des Art Décoratifs in Paris and from the Ecole nationale supérieure des Arts in Cergy. The brothers have been working together since 1998 and operate a Paris-based design studio where a team designs furniture, light fixtures, home accessories, jewelry and plans architectural projects.
The brother Bouroullec were discovered by Giulio Cappellini in 1997 at the Milan furniture fair where they presented the project "Disintegrated Kitchen". Cappellini commissioned them with their first big design project. After collaborating with the Galerie Kreo in 2000, the Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake had them design his showrooms for his new collection "A-Poc". Finally, they met Rolf Fehlbaum, Vitra's manager, and developped the "Joyn" office system, the starting point of an intensive cooperation with Vitra. Since then Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec have been working in collaboration with big brands like Artek, Alessi, Hay, Kvadrat, Kartell or Established & Sons.
The Steelwood collection from 2004, which comprises shelves, armchairs, coat stands and bar stools, is the result of a collaboration with the Italian furniture brand Magis. The collection's armchair won the Compasso d'Oro in 2011. The brothers designed the Piani table lamp, characterised by a reduced shape, and the flexible AIM suspension for Flos. AIM was honoured with an "Honourable Mention" at the "Compasso d'Oro" in 2016. The Bouroullec brothers were also elected "Designer of the Year" and won the iF Design Award (2015), the red dot design award "Best of the Best" and the German Design Award (2012). Some of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec's designs have been adopted into the permanent collection of the Musée national d'art moderne (centre Pompidou) in Paris and in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Photo: ©Alexandre Tabaste